


Choices

by lucdarling



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Background Demogorgon (Stranger Things), Future Fic, Gen, POV Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Reunions, The Lab (Stranger Things)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27642637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucdarling/pseuds/lucdarling
Summary: They're in the thick of it, again. Battle-hardened and world weary, too young for it and yet the only people who can actually make a difference.What they did at Starcourt didn't stick. They probably should have known that if one group of foreigners could figure out how to tear a hole between worlds, others would try too.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Maxine "Max" Mayfield & The Party
Comments: 13
Kudos: 38





	Choices

They're in the thick of it, again. Battle-hardened and world weary, too young for it and yet the only people who can actually make a difference.

What they did at Starcourt didn't stick. They probably should have known that if one group of foreigners could figure out how to tear a hole between worlds, others would try too. They were too consumed by grief the first year to set up safeguards. The Party has gotten better now, made something like an approximate timeline and knows when to bring the fight to someone else's doorstep.

They all come to Hawkins, like moths to the flame.

El is on one knee just like before, exhausted. Will, Dustin, and Jonathan flank her, defense and protection. It's the rest of them who make up the offensive strike.

They're still losing, Max knows. Even armed with axes and homemade flamethrowers, these creatures have learned to strategize and it makes fighting just that much more difficult. Though strategy doesn’t matter when they can still be overrun, like tonight.

It's a small mercy the demodogs haven't figured out camouflage but Max and Dustin are both waiting for the day.

"Are they stronger now?" Nancy grouses, taking Mike's hand to get to her feet. "I feel like I got hit by a truck."

"Yeah but you still clipped one as you fell!" Dustin enthuses. "It was bad ass!"

"I think that was only the first wave," Mike says. He's squinting, staring at the other end of the lobby. Of course the fight is back at the Lab, whatever version it is now. Max stopped keeping track back when she was still in high school.

Honestly, forcing the Bad Guys to rebuild the lab is the best indicator of when it's time to come back to Hawkins, start practicing shots at targets and bring the fight to them. It’s always bloody, guns are nearly useless but buy them time.

In between fights, they're spread out across the country at various colleges. Living life the best they can, like none of them have trauma etched onto their bones at this point.

Max can hear the skittering of claws on the tile floor getting closer. The lack of stealth doesn't matter when they're nearly full grown and can pack a punch. At least they still don't have any defense against fire.

Even relegated to squeezing through one set of double doors, it's only a matter of time. Max waits for Mike to call a retreat in the face of the military’s headlights outside as their trucks pull up. She tries to find him in the mass of grey otherworldly flesh and screeches that make her grit her teeth. She got over the urge to put her hands over her ears after the second or third fight.

Instead she sees Mike on the ground, being dragged over to El by Lucas. Max swears at the sight and then again when she sees the demogorgon headed straight towards her. She pulls her weapon up to sight, knowing it's too late and she’ll be taken down.

The demogorgon is blown up by a grenade thrown over her head and Max stands, slack jawed at the sight.

"Look alive, sunshine." A deep voice at her back gives Max the resolve to keep fighting. She can break down later about her impending death and another narrow escape. The voice sounds familiar, like someone from long ago. Max puts it in the back of her mind and gets back to work hacking away and saving her hometown. Of course the military has grenades at their disposal and doesn’t offer them to the Party.

She spies a figure in the midst of the melee to her right, strong arms hefting a battle axe. Max blinks and the man is gone, a whirling dervish she might have dreamt up.

Improbably, they win. The men in uniforms come in at the last minute to save the day, as always. Max stands off to the side, wiping black slime and worse off her clothes, her arms and face. It smells disgusting.

She blinks and it's like the world comes into sharp focus all at once, overwhelming and too bright.

"Am I dreaming? Did I die?" Max nudges Will, who turns his head to look at what she sees across the room.

"Is that-" Will shrugs and makes a face. Max thinks back, realizes he never met her step-brother when he was alive beyond glimpses in a parking lot or maybe the aisles at Melvald’s.

She keeps a tight grasp on her weapon and crosses the room.

The Party doesn't really deal with the military presence, that's all Robin and Erica and Mike. All the rest of them do is wave and collect their checks as they troop out of the way, returning to their lives across the country while clean up is handled. The payment is new, a nice incentive to return to Hawkins when they’re needed. Mike had derisively called it a bribe but the fact is, none of them can turn the money down.

"Excuse me," Max demands and pushes her way through the uniforms. She glares at one who looks like he's thinking about stepping in her way.

"Let her through," the man in the middle says.

There's that familiar tickle in the back of Max's mind again but it doesn't make sense until tired blue eyes meet hers.

Her weapon drops to the ground with a clatter and she launches herself at Billy. His hair is pulled back but there's still the scar across his eyebrow and a much larger one creeping up from the collar of his shirt.

He catches her easily, like she's a young girl again. Max hides her face in his shoulder, legs wrapping around his waist. She's crying, the ugly kind where her face heats up and her head pounds at the end.

She's vaguely aware of Billy setting her down on her own feet but the action makes her clutch at him with all the force left in her tired arms. She can't stop crying and she hates it. She hated him when he was alive, mostly.

"Hey, hey Max. Maxine." He says her name sharply and it gets her attention. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm done working for those assholes."

"What do you mean?" Max blubbers. She tries to wipe at her face and gives up halfway through. It's useless, the tears won't stop coming.

"They saved my life so I was uh, volun-told for the front line." Billy shrugs and looks sheepish. It’s an unfamiliar look on a familiar face. "You gonna quit snotting all over me any time soon?"

“Excuse me for freaking out, I only thought you were dead!” Max snaps.

It's about that time that the rest of the Party makes their way over for their own explanation. Max doesn't let go of Billy, glares at Mike and Dustin for suggesting he’s some sort of spy. She doesn’t know where the rest of the uniforms have gone, doesn’t care as she’s surrounded by the family she’s made for herself. 

"Why would they do that?" Nancy asks, eyes narrowed as she stares at Billy.

"Because Max has the highest kill count after El," Lucas says easily.

"I didn't know we were keeping track," Jonathan muses, not quite under his breath and loud enough for everyone to hear. Max gives him a watery grin and he winks badly at her.

"Not a spy, you can do whatever you need to make yourselves happy.” Billy speaks. “Won't be any worse than what they put me through."

"Like hell they will," Max growls. Her glare promises a slow death to anyone who tries. Dustin even takes a step back.

"Settle down, Max." Billy says, even as one large hand rests on her shoulder now that her waterworks have slowed down. "Now what are we standing around here for? Let's blow this joint up and go somewhere nicer."

"It's blow this joint," El corrects the idiom softly, leaning against Robin with an arm around her waist for balance.

"Normally yes," Billy gives her a smirk. "But not when you have a truckload of C-4 waiting outside, begging to be used. The men in black are tired of this battleground and gave their approval to put an end to it. Should mean the end to these little firefights of yours, too."

Max is pretty sure she will have the memory of wide eyes and cheers emblazoned in her mind forever. If they weren't so exhausted, she thinks half The Party would be leading a stampede out the doors. As it is, Erica and Dustin are already arguing about structural integrity while Lucas is hurriedly doing calculations. Even Will is a little bloodthirsty at the idea they can bring the Lab down for good and stop fighting for the town.

“But why are you here? Have you been here before?” Steve asks, walking out with Max and Billy. “Did we just not see you?”

“Nah,” Billy shakes his head. “They had me hopping all over the place, once they were satisfied I didn’t have any more monster left in me.” He taps his head and Max shudders.

“All over the place?” Steve echoes with a frown.

Billy looks incredulous before he laughs. “You guys thought this was the only place where some assholes are trying to break through worlds? Granted, Hawkins is the worst by far, but it’s definitely not the only one.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was something short to ease back into writing after kinktober and a Bang, prompted by an anon on tumblr who wanted to see “Excuse me for freaking out, I only thought you were dead!" in a story. If you liked it, please let me know.


End file.
